


Pancakes

by Anna Noëlle (AnnaNL9902)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 21:04:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20477447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaNL9902/pseuds/Anna%20No%C3%ABlle
Summary: As Nora finds a stranger making pancakes in her kitchen, she has to roll with it. Later she finds out she made the biggest mistake she could've ever made.Or: another excuse for me to write more fluff.





	1. Chapter 1 - Pancakes

**Author's Note:**

> As I was devestated by the news of Courtney and Brandon having to leave the show, I found this prompt on Pinterest and just rolled with it from there on. This story will have six chapters from around 1000 words and an epilogue.
> 
> As sad me wanted to kill a character at some point, @MrsNoraPalmer prevented me from doing so, which gave this story mostly fluff and some slightly angsty parts. 
> 
> Enjoy reading and let me know what you think!

“You’re still here,” the young woman remarked as she entered the kitchen. She was still wearing her pajamas and clearly did not expect anyone to be in here. “And you’re making -”, she looked over the man’s shoulder, “- pancakes?”

The tall man stood in front of the stove and flipped the pancake with ease. He wore the same pants as he did yesterday, but wasn’t wearing a shirt, which Nora highly appreciated. He awkwardly turned around and stared at his feet. “Well, you were still sleeping, so I wanted to surprise you with breakfast. I wasn’t sure if you were allergic to anything,” he rambled, “so I baked gluten free and dairy free pancakes.”

She interrupted his rambling by placing her hand on his chest and she giggled, until she realized in what an intimate position they were standing and quickly let go of him. “I’m not allergic to anything, but I do appreciate the gesture.”

He smiled as he gestured to the pile of pancakes, not noticing her awkwardness, or he just didn’t feel the need to comment on it. “You hungry?”

She nodded convincingly. “I’m starving.” She grabbed two plates and some cutlery out of the kitchen cabinet and put them down on the table.

“You worked up quite the appetite last night, didn’t you?” he chuckled.

She snorted and gently hit him on his chest. “You wanted to say that you didn’t?”

The man laughed with her. “I can’t deny it, can I?”

She softly chuckled. She liked this: the easiness to be around him; his sense of humor (he was able to make her smile, not a lot of people shared that particular quality) ánd he made pancakes for her. Additionally, he also was extremely good looking. 

She set the table as he served the pile of pancakes on the table. She grabbed some glasses to get the man something to drink (no alcohol, they had had enough of that last night) and snagged the maple syrup from the counter. They sat down at the table and the man provided her the first pancake and then gave himself the second one. 

They ate their breakfast in silence, none of them knew what to say, or what to talk about. They knew literally nothing about each other. The only thing they did know about each other is what they looked like without clothes; which Nora had to add, he looked great. 

She fiddled with her necklace as he observed at her. “What does your necklace means to you?” Nora plainly stared at him, not understanding where that question came from. “You also wore your necklace last night and wouldn’t take it off and you’re wearing it now while you haven’t even put on clothes. Also, the necklace is discolored in some places, which indicates that you’ve worn it a lot,” he rambled again.

Nora grinned in herself, not sharing her amusement with him. Her expression changed the moment she thought back to her necklace. “The necklace was my mother’s,” Nora whispered, as a single tear streamed down her face, “it’s one of the few things I have left of her.” 

“I’m so sorry for being intrusive,” he immediately apologized.

Nora shook her head. “It’s okay. It kind of feels good to talk about it.” 

“You talked about her as if she’s already gone?”

“A little over fifteen years ago. She offered herself up to save me,” she softly sobbed. “I miss her so much.”

He put his hand on her back and stroked comfortingly up and down. His presence and his soothing strokes calmed her down. He in general seemed to calm her down. He had a doubtful look on his face, but seconds later he pulled Nora into a hug and just let her cry. Cry until all the tears were gone. Cry until all the pain was dulled. 

Later that morning, they stood face to face in the hallway. The man had put on his clothes, as Nora had cleaned up the kitchen. Afterwards, they met in her tiny hallway. It was big enough to hold Nora and all her stuff, but it wasn’t big enough to fit two people inside of there. 

“No hard feelings, when we just say this was a one time thing only?” Nora asked. 

The man nodded. “No hard feelings.” He walked towards the door, as he abruptly stopped and turned around. “Can I at least know your name?”

Nora did not know what to do with this, but decided to let him in on this small piece of information. “It’s Nora,” she told him, “Nora Darhk.”

The man nodded again. “A beautiful name and a name that suits you. Nora means honor and light, which you’ve shown me both in the last twelve hours that we’ve known each other,” he rambled. She liked his rambling; it made her feel less awkward and she found it amusing. He turned back and walked towards the door.

Nora did not know how to respond to his words. “Can I then know your name too?”

He turned around again to face Nora. “My name is Ray Palmer.”

Nora’s mouth nearly dropped on the floor. “You’re Ray Palmer? The guy who runs Palmer Tech, the best Tech company in Star City?”

The man, who now had gotten the name Ray, chuckled. “I did not know my company was the best in Star City, but we try our hardest to become the best.”

“Oh my God, if Mona hears this, she is going to freak out from excitement. I had a one night stand with a billionaire, that sounds like the beginning of one of those cheesy novels she makes me read for book club.”

Ray looked at her in confusion. “Who is Mona?”

“That’s my co-worker who forces me to join her book club every month, which is actually none of your concern. You should go. I guess you have a million better things to do than to listen to my rambling.”

“You’re kicking me out?” Ray asked.

If Nora had really given herself the time to look at him, she would’ve seen the look full of hurt on his face, but she didn’t. “I am, because you shouldn’t have to hear my rambling and I guess you and I have better things to do.”

Ray exited the apartment in silence. “I wish you the best, Nora Darhk.”

“Same goes for you,” Nora smiled. She threw the door in his face and she heard him walk away. She let herself fall to the ground and sat with her back against the door. 

She fucked up, big time, but she knew nothing about it yet.


	2. Chapter 2 - Caramel Sauce

“One hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel sauce,” Nora heard the familiar order sound through the shop. That used to be her order, but not anymore. She hadn’t had that order since her parents died, there were too many memories connected to that drink.

She got to work and made the order. She took a new cup, placed under the machine and pressed the right buttons. As the machine stopped simmering, she added the whipped cream and caramel sauce. Once she smelled the smell of caramel, she just wanted to vomit. Just the smell made her feel so sick that she wanted to throw up. She handed the finished order over to her co-worker and friend, who delivered it to the righteous person. It was a little girl, with long black hair, braided into two Dutch braids. The little girl reminded her of herself when she was younger. The same expression on her face and the same hair color as she had.

“Nora, are you okay?” Mona asked concerned. She still looked funny with the black cap on her head, which was a little too big and hung in front of her face. 

Nora nodded. “I’ll be okay, we just have to keep working to survive rush hour,” she joked.

Mona did not believe a word Nora had just said, but went back to taking the orders of the customers. That gave Nora the opportunity to focus on her work and not having to think about why she suddenly can’t stomach the smell of caramel sauce anymore. 

Nora exhaustingly let herself fall down on the ground. She had survived rush hour and had her thirty minute break. She usually spent that time surfing the internet on her phone, so that’s what she decided to do now. 

Ava, her superior, walked through the door, obviously trying to find someone or something. 

“Can I help you, Ava?”

Ava looked relieved the moment she saw Nora sitting on the ground. “Yes, I was looking for you.”

“For me?” Nora asked surprised, her superior never needed her. “Why did you need me?”

“To give you this.” Ava handed her a small package. “Mona told me about her suspicion, but she had to go home, so she asked me to give you this.”

Nora unpacked Mona’s ‘gift’ and her eyes nearly popped out when she saw what was inside. “Why the hell would Mona give me a pregnancy test?”

Ava put her hands in the air to surrender. “I don’t know, but I do know that Mona is not the one to prank you and just give you one. She must’ve had a good reason to feel the need to give you this.” 

Nora nodded to show Ava that she agreed with her. “Thank you for delivering this. Could you please not tell anyone else? I want to know it for sure before everyone knows.”

“Of course!” Ava promised. “Now go and do the test, so you certainly know if it’s true.” Ava lend Nora her hand to get up and Nora gratefully took it. “Good luck.” Ava called after her, but Nora didn’t hear her anymore. She was zoned out and just walked in a straight line to the bathroom. 

Once she was there she claimed the last stall, knowing she had to hog the stall for a long time. She opened the package and took the little stick out. As clumsy as she was, she dropped the manual on the floor. Feeling frustrated, she grabbed the manual from the ground and read quickly over it. There was something in there about having to wait for five minutes, that was all she remembered. The concentration to read the whole manual wasn’t there, she was too anxious to read it, so she just let is slide.

She peed on the stick, put in on her legs and activated a timer on her phone for five minutes. The timer started counting and now the waiting game had begun. She had to wait five minutes, she could wait five minutes right? Time seems to go slower when you have to wait for something. Five minutes to wait for your pregnancy test results feels like an eternity. Five minutes to spend with your favorite person in the world feels like just a second. Never did she know five minutes could feel so long, so she just made these the five longest minutes of her life. They easily were, so she felt like she could call them that. 

And then the timer stopped counting and her phone started making a lot of noise. She rapidly shushed her phone, because she was still in a bathroom stall at her work and the ear deafening noise was just plain annoying. 

She took the stick in her hands and looked at it. There were two little lines. Now was the big question: what did these two lines mean? She hadn’t taken the time to read the entire manual, so she just had to guess. She grabbed the manual and scanned for the two lines explanation. In the back of her head, she already knew what these two lines meant, but seeing it confirmed on paper is something else. 

One line means that you’re not pregnant.  
Two lines means that you’re pregnant.

She had had two lines. Two little lines, to fuck up her life. Maybe fuck up was a little harsh, but her life was going to change drastically, now the follow-up question was: would it be for the better?

Nora stopped thinking when she realized one thing. She is biologically, as far as she knows at least, incapable of making a baby on her own. As she was honest with herself than she already knew who made this baby with her. The guy who stayed after their moment of passion, slept in her bed and made pancakes for the both of them in the morning. 

Ray Palmer, the owner of the biggest tech company in Star City, was going to become the father of the baby growing in her belly. 

He was going to become a father, yet Nora did not know if she could face him. They hadn’t spoken since their night. He went on with his life as she went on with hers. The exact meaning of a one night stand, but this one went a little different. This one created something growing inside of Nora’s belly; a baby.


	3. Chapter 3 - That's what friends are for

The soon to be mother cryingly sat on her bed in her absolutely not spacious apartment. She absently stroked over her still invisible belly. It might not be visible yet, but Nora felt connected to her baby when she did this; it also made this whole thing feel much more real. 

Her mind was wondering about how their future would look like, hers and her baby’s. She absentmindedly bit her nails, showing her anxiety. Just thinking about her future made her feel anxious. Her apartment was barely big enough for just her, how was she even going to fit her child and their necessities in here? How was she then even going to be able to raise a child in here? How could she ever raise a child?

She didn’t remember much from when she used to live with her parents. They weren’t the best parents, she could honestly admit that, but they were her parents. They were the ones who sat an example for her. These people were supposed to teach her what was right and wrong in the world. 

And there was the last thing, she was going to have to do it all by herself. No other parent to help her, to discuss anything with, or to guide her. She knew that parenthood was supposed to be hard, and when you would do it alone, it would become even tougher. 

She was harshly pulled out of her mind by the phone started making a deafening noise. Why did she always set her volume on the maximum level? She answered the phone and heard Ava’s familiar voice on the other side. Ava told her about a crisis situation at work and that they really needed her. 

Nora sighed. She just had her day off and now she had to go to work because of some crisis situation. She swiftly put on some clothes and wrapped her hair in a bun. She grabbed her final things and hopped into her car to drive to work. Once she was there, Nora saw what was going on. People were even waiting outside to get their order and there was not enough staff to help all the customers in time. She ran towards her workspot and helped the customers as soon as she could. 

Two hours later Nora let herself fall down on the chair in the staff lounge. She was exhausted. Just plain exhausted. She had no feeling left in her feet and her back hurt like hell. 

Ava dropped on the chair in front of her seconds later and Mona waltzed in the moment Ava sat down. “That was a too tiring rush hour. I want to go home,” she complained.

Nora gniffled by her superior’s words. “Same.” She dropped her head on the table and closed her eyes. “I want to go home, but I’m too tired to actually drive home.”

Mona joined them at the table with a glass of water in her left hand and sat down next to Nora. “I would offer to drive you home, but my shift doesn’t end for another two hours.” 

“And I can’t leave Gary unsupervised,” Ava snorted. 

Nora laughed by the image of leaving Gary unsupervised and in charge of the whole coffee shop. “It’s okay. Thank you for your offers.” 

Ava and Mona nodded. “Nora,” Mona said, “don’t you have something to tell us?” Mona nudged Nora’s shoulder.

Nora took a deep breath. “I’m eight weeks pregnant.”

“Oh my god, I’m so happy for you!” Mona sprung up and hugged her friend, until she hugged her too tight, so that Nora could scarcely breathe, that was how tight Mona hugged her.

Ava kept a professional distance, but you could still see the joy on her face. “Didn’t you and Sam break up three months ago?”

Nora nodded with a look of shame on her face. “It’s not Sam’s.”

Ava stared uncomprehendingly at her. “Then whose is it?”

“Ray Palmer,” Nora mumbled ashamed.

Ava’s eyes shut open. “Ray Palmer, you mean the CEO of Palmer Tech?”

Nora nodded. 

“Have you been secretly dating him and told us nothing about him?” Ava blamed her.

“Pancakes!” Mona yelled.

Two faces went up and stared at Mona, one filled with regret and one filled with questioning looks. 

“Pancakes?” Ava inquired for clarification. 

Nora was nervously fiddling with her fingers as she answered. “We had a one night stand.” Ava wanted to start asking more questions as Nora started talking further. “We met and we ended up at my place, we had sex that night, resulting in me being knocked up and the following morning he made me pancakes and we talked. I did kick him out afterwards,” Nora offered Ava a short summary, catching her up on all that she’d missed. 

“You hadn’t kicked him out after the two of you had your moment of passion?” Ava asked.

“No.”

“I’m very proud of you, Nora Darhk. Not kicking a man out after your heated moment of passion and letting him stay for breakfast. I feel like a proud mama.” 

Nora snorted. “I had already fallen asleep before I could kick him out and he had already made pancakes for breakfast; I couldn’t kick him and his pancakes out!” Nora lifted her hands in defeat. “His pancakes were delicious though.”

“I bet they were.” Ava teasingly nudged her under the table. 

Mona was uncharacteristically quiet their whole conversation, but you could still she the joyful look in her eyes. She was excited for her best friend to have a baby and even more that Ray Palmer was her baby daddy, even though he wasn’t in the picture. This was like one of her romance novels had come to live, now Ray and Nora only had to end up together and have their happy ending for it to become reality, but she already loved every second of this. 

“I’m going to go home,” Nora announced a little later.

Ava nodded, as Mona was still romanticizing about Ray and Nora’s future. “We’re going to have to head back to work, Gary deserves to finally go on a break.” Ava said her goodbye as she dragged Mona out of the room. Now Nora was all by herself and had the time to go home. She just wanted to pass out on her bed and sleep for the next couple hours. Pregnancy was hard on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to school to me! When is my next break again?


	4. Chapter 4 - Boom. Clap.

Nora was entering her fifteenth week of her pregnancy and there by she had entered her second trimester. She had passed her first trimester, which meant that the chance of miscarriage had dropped to less than one percent. You could spot the slightly forming belly if she wore a tight shirt. Nora however, only wore baggy clothes when she had to appear in public. She still worked at Jitters - she had to work somewhere to provide for her child - and she has had a long conversation with Ava about how her future at Jitters was going to look like. 

Nora tiredly stroked the sweat from her forehead. She had worked most of the morning until the last customer of the rush hour was gone and now she was dead on her feet. Ava had started their after rush hour cleaning session already, but Nora had sent her home when Ava accidentally dropped that it was her and Sara’s anniversary today. Now she had to finish the cleaning by herself, while Mona was serving the customers. 

When she let herself fall into a chair in the employee’s lounge an hour later, her shift was finally over. She noticed that she was getting tired earlier than she used to, probably a side-effect of her pregnancy. 

Mona hurried into the room and grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets, filled it with water and knocked it back at once. 

Nora laughed at Mona’s clumsy and busy behavior. “Hello to you too,” she greeted her.

“Hi, I’m sorry,” Mona apologized as she stuffed a cookie in her mouth, “I have my break, but I can’t leave Gary unsupervised for too long.” 

Before Nora could react that Mona could leave poor Gary alone for two minutes, Mona was already gone. 

Nora stood up and lovingly stroked over her more and more becoming visible belly. She changed from her baggy work clothes - she deliberately always took the oversize sizes, so that her ever growing belly didn’t stand out - into her regular clothes. She had to go to the mall to buy new clothes, as her belly was even visible in the shirt she wore to work this morning. 

She dropped her clothing into the laundry basket in the lounge, so that she could get clean clothes during her shift tomorrow and left the room. She bid her farewell to her co-workers in the shop as she searched for the keys in her bag. They were in there somewhere, but she always just threw them in there and couldn’t find them anywhere when she needed them.

Boom. Clap.

With an unexpected force, Nora was thrown onto the ground. Disoriented, she looked around to see what just happened. She was laying on her back and her head felt heavy. She slowly tried to open her eyes, but the light was too bright and she directly shut her eyes.

“What- what happened?” Nora stuttered.

“We ran into each other and you fell,” said a familiar voice. She recognized that voice, but she could not place whose voice that was. The voice sounded close to her ear, like he was sitting next to her. “You haven’t been unconscious, but you hit your head pretty hard. I think you have a concussion, but I’m not a doctor.”

Nora tried to open her eyes again. This time her eyes thankfully could stand the light a little better. She looked at the faces around her. She spotted Mona, Ava and Gary; some regular customers; some strangers and Ray. “Ray?”

Ray smiled. “Hi Nora,” he greeted her. “I’m sorry for running into you.” He nervously fiddled with his fingers. 

Nora shook her head. “No, don’t be. I should’ve watched where I was going.” There fell a comfortable silence between them. “How about you buy me a coffee to make it up to me?” Nora grinned. 

Most customers dripped off and left Ray and Nora to be. Gary and Mona went back to work as Ava guided the two of them to a nearby couch. Ray took Nora up on her proposal and he went to buy coffee for the two of them, leaving Nora and Ava alone. 

“Are you going to tell him?” Ava inquired.

Nora shrugged. “I don’t know.”

As Ray came back with two big cups of coffee, a decaf for both of them. He handed her her cup and she thanked him. Suddenly, the normal atmosphere changed and it felt awkward. Nora felt obligated to tell Ray the truth, almost like she it to him to tell him this, even if she had the liberty to keep this from him. 

“Ray,” Nora tried to avoid Ray’s sweet and kind eyes. “I have to confess something.”

Ray listened to her in silence, only nodding to let her know that he was still listening to her.

Nora took a deep breath as she tried to collect all her courage to tell him. Her headache and nausea wasn’t exactly helpful with that. “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out. She looked at him with fear in her eyes. She was afraid that he would get mad. Afraid that he would leave her. 

“I know,” he calmly answered. 

Nora looked at him with surprise. “You knew? How did you know?”

“When you fell, you shirt was pushed up and I could see your belly and,” Ray chuckled. “I might remember bits and pieces from our night, but I do remember that you didn’t have a baby belly and you ordered decaf, while you didn’t have any decaf at home when I was there, so that must be a new diet. It made sense that it was because of your pregnancy.”

Nora fell silent. She was so used to hiding her pregnancy, that she never thought that someone would figure it out before she told them.

“Is it mine?” Ray’s voice trembled. He was about to start crying out of nervosity and fear.

“It’s yours.” Nora sighed. “I understand it if you don’t want anything to do with the baby or with me, it was a one time thing only anyway and I know that I should’ve been more careful...”

“Nora,” Ray grabbed her hands, “we both should’ve been more careful.” He thought for a couple seconds. “I don’t want you to go through this alone Nora. Not through your pregnancy, or now your concussion.” They both smiled. “I want to help you in every way that I can. I want to help you to raise our child.” 

Nora didn’t know how to thank him and she hugged him. He felt that she needed it and held extra tight onto her. “We’re in this together and we’re gonna nail this,” he whispered.

That moment Nora didn’t feel so alone anymore, she knew she had someone to share her agony with and help her with everything she needed.


	5. Chapter 5 - Sleeping Arrangement

“Is it really necessary that I come and live here?” Nora complained when she sat down on the chair across Ray. He sat at the dinner table and was busy on his computer with ending her lease, just as he offered to do the night before. 

He clicked a couple times with his mouse and then he looked at her and smiled. “It is because we discussed this and this will be better once the baby is born and you don’t have to do everything alone. You also did not have the room for a baby in your apartment.”

Nora sighed and laid her head on the table. “I just feel like I only bother you more.”

“You’re never a bother to me, Nora,” he comforted her, “and if you don’t want to do it for you, then do it for the baby’s sake?”

She looked out of the window and stared into the pitch black void. “You’re right.” She yawned and circled her neck. 

Ray just observed the beautiful woman sitting in front of him, the woman who was carrying his baby. “You should go to sleep.”

“I know,” Nora nodded, “but my bedroom feels so far away.”

Ray softly laughed at Nora. She knew that he wasn’t trying to be mean, he just found it funny that she was too exhausted to walk the at most twenty meters to her bedroom. Well, his bedroom actually, but he moved to the guestroom the moment she accepted his offer and told him that she would move in with him. 

Ray stood up and stood behind her, massaging her shoulders. “How about I carry you?”

“You can’t be serious, Ray. I can walk-”

Ray lifted her from her chair and carried her as a bride. He walked with her to her bedroom and gently put her down on the bed. 

“Thank you, but you didn’t have to do this, really.”

A tiny smile appeared on Ray’s face. “You’re welcome,” he responded, deliberating neglecting what she just said.

Nora woke up a couple hours later, sweating, trembling and shaking out of fear and still high on adrenaline. She was still caught in her nightmare about her parents. The urge to fight her nightmare became more difficult every time it came back. 

She took her phone and saw the date. The date that was burned into her head. She couldn’t even forget that day if she tried. That date, so many years ago, her mother died. Or more specifically: she had become collateral damage in a fight between her father and the Green Arrow. 

When she noticed that she couldn’t control her breathing anymore, she snuck out of her bed. She couldn’t stay here alone, or she was going to have a panic attack. She just couldn’t stand the deafening silence in her room. She sneaked out of the room and silently entered Ray’s.

Despite Nora’s attempts to sneak into the room as quiet as possible, Ray still started moving and opened his eyes. “Hey,” he greeted her with a groggily voice. 

“Hi,” Nora greeted him back, “can I sleep here for the rest of the night?” she asked reluctantly. 

Ray moved aside and opened the blanket, so she could easily get in. Nora crawled into the bed next to him, as Ray watched her. 

“You want to talk about what is going on?”

Before Nora knew it, tears were already streaming down her face and a lump formed in her throat. “My mother.” 

“It’s the day she died?” Ray guessed. Nora only had to nod and he knew enough. He took her in her arms and comforted her until she fell asleep in his safe arms. 

When Nora woke up again, she woke up in peace, in contradistinction to how she woke up last night. She felt a constant movement on her belly and opened her eyes to see Ray.

Ray spotted her, saw that she was awake and smiled. “It’s so surreal, isn’t it?”

Nora had no clue what he was talking about.

Ray just continued. “There is a little baby forming in your belly, which we created. We did that, together.”

“That we did,” Nora laughed. 

“How did you figure out that you were pregnant?” he blurted out.

“I didn’t actually.” Nora chuckled as she reminisized that memory. “It was Mona, my co-worker and friend. I couldn’t stomach some smells that I used to love and she let Ava deliver me a pregnancy test. I took the test and it was positive.”

“Did you have any weird cravings?”

“Not really, but I couldn’t stand the smell of caramel, while my favorite drink used to be a hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel sauce.” They both laughed at that. “Do you have any more questions?”

‘I’m so sorry, am I being too intrusive? I just want to know the things that I’ve missed.”

Nora laid her hand on his shoulder as a sign of reassurement. “It’s okay. I get it. You have any other questions?”

“Have you felt the baby kick yet? Do you want to find out the gender and so have you thought about the nursery yet?” 

Matching Ray’s enthusiasm, Nora’s answered his questions. “I haven’t but I should feel him or her kick any day now. You can’t feel him or her for another couple of weeks unfortunately.” Nora could see Ray’s disappointment about that one. “I would like to find out the gender, so that we can make a matching nursery. For the nursery I was thinking about white and baby blue or pink.”

“You’re amazing,” Ray complimented her out of the blue.

“I am?”

“You are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6 - Beanie

Nora’s mouth nearly dropped to the floor when she saw the tall building with a gigantic Palmer Tech sign in front of her. Ray had invited her to have lunch at his office building, as she had the day off and he had back-to-back meetings. Yet Ray, always the gentleman, wanted to make time and he offered to have lunch there. 

She walked in and entered the lobby and a sign signing her to the registration desk. She walked the way the signs signed and arrived there. Behind the desk sat a man with a kind smile, which he showed a lot.

“Hi, my name is Nora Darhk,” she introduced herself. “I was supposed to have lunch with Ray Palmer at one?” 

“Ah, Miss Darhk,” he smiled, “Mr. Palmer told me that you would grace us with your presence today. He is at a meeting now, but he told me that you could join him in his meeting if you’d like. He should be at the eleventh floor now. If he’s not there, try his office. Do you need me to send someone with you to guide you?”

“Oh, no, that’s not necessary.” She sent the man a smile and walked towards the elevators. She pressed the buttons and the button lit up. She looked around her, waiting for the elevator to arrive as someone crashed into her legs. She looked down and saw a little boy with sprankling green eyes and curly ash blonde hair sit on the ground; he must have fallen down when he ran into her legs.

“Hi there.” She tried to crouch as best as she could with her baby belly and helped the little boy stand up. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head, with a terrified look in his eyes and still a little shaken up by what had just happened. 

“Jonathan,” a woman, probably Jonathan’s mother, yelled, “please watch where you’re going!” She ran towards them. “Have you already apologized to the lady?”

“It’s okay. I was daydreaming and didn’t pay attention to my surroundings,” she defended the little boy.

The woman took Jonathan’s hand. “He still shouldn’t have ran into you. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t mention it.” The two women exchanged smiles and Jonathan and his mother walked away as the elevator bell rang, announcing its arrival. She stepped in and pressed the button with an eleven on it. 

Once the elevator opened, she saw children playing in the meeting rooms. She searched for Ray, but she somehow couldn’t find him. She had already searched most of the meeting rooms, as she found eventually him; in the very last room, playing soccer with a couple boys. She watched them play with a smile on her face. This role suited Ray so much, playing with the children.

When a young boy scored and ran his victory lap in euphory, she knocked on the window. All the boys looked at her and she saw Ray who flashed his typical Ray Palmer smile. He stepped out of the conference room and greeted her with a hug. “Hi, did you find me easily or did you have to search for too long?”

“I had to search the whole floor, but I liked seeing all the kids play here,” she confessed to him. “What is going on here?”

“I introduced bring your child to work day, so the entire eleventh floor is now for the children.”

“Why would you do that?” Nora fell silent. “Never mind, you’re Ray Palmer and you’re too good for this world.”

“I wanted to help my employee’s, but I also introduced it to set an example for our child. I’d like to take our child to my work every now and then, so that you can have your hands free.”

Nora’s eyes teared up a little. “You did this for our child and for me?”

Ray nodded. “I did.”

Nora fell into his arms as she sobbed, her pregnancy hormones causing her to cry more than she used to. “I’m so glad that you didn’t leave me and our baby alone.”

“I’m never going to leave you and our child alone, never again.”

That afternoon, Nora had to go back to work. Another coworker had fallen ill and Ava was stressed out, so she eased Ava’s mind by promising that she would work that afternoon. She walked in and saw Ava already, cleaning the counter. 

“Hi,” she let Ava know she was there. 

Just as Nora wanted to walk towards the employee’s lounge to change into her work clothes, someone ran into the shop. “Nora!” Nora turned around and stared right into Ray’s tomato red face. “You forgot your beanie and your scarf from my office.”

“And you brought it all the way here?” Nora smiled. “I thought you had back-to-back meetings this afternoon?” 

“I had,” Ray anxiously moved on his feet, “but it’s freezing outside and I didn’t want you to get cold.”

Nora hugged him. “Thank you for caring so much.”

“Be careful?” He offered her his pinky.

She put her pinky in his. “Always.”

That night they laid in her bed together, discussing potential baby names. She was eighteen weeks pregnant by now. Ray was softly whispering against her stomach, telling their baby boy stories about everything and touching her belly, hoping to feel their baby kick.

During their sixteen week sonogram, they found out that they were having a little boy. Ray had been ecstatic, he was going to become a father to a little boy who he could teach everything he knew about science. Of course, Nora was also very happy about getting a boy, but Nora didn’t have a preference about the gender of their kid. 

Right after the sonogram Nora had felt their baby kick for the first time and Nora had to confirm that that was the most wonderful feeling in the world. The feeling of your baby kick in your belly made the whole pregnancy feel so much more real.

“What was that?” Ray asked Nora, interrupting Nora’s thinking.

Nora looked at her belly and smiled as she realized what had just happened. “You just felt our baby kick.”

Ray’s eyes stood so full of love and adoration as he flashed the biggest Ray Palmer level smile that she had ever seen in the time she got to know him.

The look of love and adoration disappeared and Nora saw Ray struggling. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know how. “What’s up, Ray?” She turned onto her side, so she could look at him. 

Ray also turned on his side, staring into Nora’s eyes. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, not looking at Nora anymore. “I- I don’t just want to co-parent, I want our child raised together with their parents together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it, now we only have the epilogue left. Please, let me know what you think. The epilogue should be up in a coulpe days. See you then!


	7. Chapter 7 - Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has been so caught up with school that she literally forgot to update, when she wrote this weeks ago?

Nora gave birth to their beautiful baby boy on May the nineteenth. Since that beautiful day, Ray and Nora spent weeks living on a big pink cloud of happiness. After debating for an excruciating long time, they settled on the name Nathan. It was Nora who had come up with the name, as the name reminded her of the little boy - Jonathan - who she met at the day she visited Palmer Tech. Ray eventually agreed, as they were able to shorten the name to Nate, after one of his best friends. 

The deliriously happy couple laid together on their bed - that seemed to be their favorite place to just be together, wrapped in their own little bubble. Their small baby boy laying in between them. They both observed him with so much adoration in their eyes, trying to remember all his little futures. 

“You know,” Nora began. “I’ve never been more grateful for pancakes.”

“I agree,” Ray chuckled. “I feel like his nickname should be Pancakes.”

Nora snorted and her eyes enlarged. “And traumatizing him when he finds out that then was when he was conceived?”

“Okay, you have a great point. That might not be the best idea indeed.”

“We also probably shouldn’t tell him that he the night he was conceived, you baked me pancakes after. The poor kid will never be able to eat pancakes anymore.”

“And you and I both know how excellent my pancakes are,” Ray laughed. 

“Your pancakes are excellent indeed.” Nora leaned into him over Nathan and softly kissed him. “Thank you for going on this emotional rollercoaster with me.”

“No one I’d rather do it with, Mrs. Palmer.”

Still not being used to her married name, Nora’s cheeks turned red, but her eyes started to sparkle. “You’re the best, Mr. Palmer.”

“And you’re the bestest best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was Pancakes, you all. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. Let me know what you thought of the story! Until next time!


End file.
